MEDICAL ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE OPPOSES MEDICAL MARIJUANA REFERENDUM

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) The Maine Medical Association's public health committee
is urging the organization's board to oppose an upcoming referendum to
legalize marijuana for medical use in Maine.

Committee members said the list of diseases medical marijuana could be
authorized to treat is too long and that doctors would be required to
approve use of a substance without knowing how toxic or potent it is.

They also said that government-approved forms of synthetic marijuana exist
and criticized real marijuana as a ''gateway drug leading users to
frequently use stronger illicit or harmful drugs.''

Supporters of the measure believe the committee's recommendation will have
little effect on voters.

The question going before voters in November asks whether Mainers should be
allowed to possess ''a usable amount of marijuana for medical use'' if a
doctor can document that a grower has any of several illnesses or if a
doctor believes it would help a patient.

The proposed law defines a usable amount as 1.25 ounces of harvested
marijuana and up to six marijuana plants, no more than three of which may
be mature, flowering plants.

The list of qualifying ailments includes persistent nausea, vomiting, loss
of appetite from AIDS or cancer treatments, glaucoma and seizures or muscle
spasms from chronic diseases, such as epilepsy or multiple sclerosis.

Craig Brown of Mainers for Medical Rights, the group pushing the
referendum, argued that the list of affected diseases and conditions is
narrow. He said government-approved synthetic substitutes for marijuana are
expensive, less effective and sometimes more toxic. He rejected claims that
marijuana use leads to use of other drugs and downplayed concerns about
varying strength and purity of marijuana.

It is unclear what the Medical Association's governing body will decide
when it meets in Bar Harbor on Sept. 16. Gordon Smith, the organization's
executive vice president, said some doctors are concerned about the
referendum's broad scope.

''Clearly there are pluses and minuses,'' Smith said.

One factor that likely will figure in the upcoming debate is a report
released in March by the Institute of Medicine, an affiliate of the
National Academy of Sciences.

The report concluded that marijuana may help treat pain, nausea and other
medical problems. But it also recommended more research and advised that
researchers should find a better way to deliver the drug, saying inhaling
its smoke poses a risk of lung disease. The study said medical use should
be confined to the terminally ill and those with debilitating symptoms who
do not respond to traditional medication.

Mainers for Medical Rights spent $390,167 by July to promote legalizing
medical marijuana in Maine. Any use of the drug remains illegal under
federal law.